Jet-propelled toy boat



Jan. 13, 1953 D. G. BEZLDlNG 2,524,975

JET-PRQPELLED TOY BOAT Filed Aug. 19. 1949 INVENTOR- DONALD G. BELDINGATTO QN EYS Patented Jan. 13, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEJET-PROPELLED TOY BOAT Donald Balding, Orrville, Ohio Application August19, 1949, Serial No. 111,257

2 Claims.

My invention relates to a toy boat of the type propelled by compressedair.

An important object of my invention is to provide a toy boat which canbe operated by children in a bathtub or the like and which is propelledby compressed air held in a toy balloon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a toy boat of theabove-mentioned character which is highly simplified in construction,and therefore cheap to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

Figure l is a side elevation of a toy boat embodying my invention,

Figure 2 is a rear end elevation of the boat, and,

Figure 3 is a central vertical longitudinal section taken on line 3-3 ofFigure 2, part broken away.

In the drawings, where for the purpose of illustration is shown apreferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral l designates the hullor body portion of the toy boat, and this hull is preferably formed ofmolded plastic, although other suitable material, such as wood may beemployed. Rigidly secured to the bottom of the hull ill, at thetransverse center thereof and near its rear end is a thin depending finor keel ll, preferably formed integral with the hull, and serving togive the hull stability in the water. The keel H has its bottom edgeinclined upwardly toward the stern of the hull, as shown. The hull I0 ismolded to simulate a conventional sail boat hull. The hull includes atop generally flat deck l2, provided near the longitudinal center of theboat with a large recess having a fiat bottom I3 intermediate of andspaced from the stern and bow of the hull Ill.

An L-shaped passage or bore is formed within the hull l0, and includes ahorizontal longitudinal section [4, and a vertical section l5, leadingfrom the forward end of the section l4 upwardly into the recess in thedeck. The section M of the L-shaped passage extends from a point nearthe longitudinal center of the hull rearwardly through the rear end orstem of the hull. The entire L-shaped passage is formed at thetransverse center of the hull. Molded or otherwise permanently withinthe L-shaped passage is an L-shaped air tube including a verticalsection I6 2 and horizontal section ll. The rear end of the air tubesection ll extends rearwardly of the stern and is preferably bentdownwardly slightly as at E8 to form an exhaust extension.

The top end of the vertical air tube section l6 terminates below thesurface It and is connected with the lower end of a tubular fitting I!having a lower enlarged portion l8, seated in a recess l9 formed in thesurface l3, as shown. The tubular fitting H has an air-tight connectionWith the tube section 16. The fitting I! has an intermediate cylindricalbody portion 20, and a top reduced cylindrical extension 2|. The bore ofthe tubular fitting I! is in communication with the L.-shaped air tube.

Detachably mounted upon the fitting I! is an outer cylindrical tubularfitting 22 having a lower opening or bore 23 which engages over theintermediate body portion 20 of the fitting I1, and an upper reducedbore section 24 which receives the top reduced extension 2|, as shown.The outside diameter of the fitting 22 is such that the tubular neck 25of a conventional toy rubber balloon 26 will readily engage over thefitting, as shown in Figure 3. The balloon 26 is preferably formed inthe shape of a triangular sail, as shown, to add a realistic appearanceto the toy boat, but obviously a balloon having any desired shape may beemployed. The top reduced extension 2| of the fitting ll projectsthrough the top of the outer cylindrical fitting 22, so that the hereofthe fitting I1 is in communication with the neck' 25 of the balloon, andcompressed air held within the balloon may pass through the innerfitting I1 and through the air tube sections I6 and I1, out through theexhaust extension I8.

In use, the outer fitting 22 may be removed from the inner fitting I!with the balloon 26 attached to it. The balloon may be inflated with themouth while the fitting 22 is in the neck 25 of the balloon. Theinflated balloon and fitting 22 are now applied to the inner fitting [1,Figure 3, and the compressed air within the balloon 26 passes throughthe L-shaped air tube to propel the boat through the water. Since thebore of the inner fitting I1 is small, it takes the air quite a while topass from the ballon 26, and I have found that the boat will bepropelled for a considerable length of time. At the same time, the boreof the fitting ll and the bore of the air tube are large enough to givethe boat considerable power and speed. The fitting 22 is sanitary sinceit does not come in contact with the water.

It is thus seen that I have provided a toy boat which is highlysimplified in construction and embodies very few parts. The boat can bemanufactured cheaply and forms an attractive toy which will prove highlyamusing for children.

The L-shaped air tube and the fittings l1 and are preferably formed ofplastic, although other suitable material may be employed, such as lightmetal, or the like.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resortedto, without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope ofthe subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A toy boat comprising a hull having a longitudinal recess extendinginwardly from its deck intermediate of and spaced from its stern andbow, a longitudinally extending fin positioned below and inwardly of thestern and spaced from i the bow of said hull and dependingly secured tothe latter, there being a longitudinal passage extending inwardly fromthe stern of said hull adjacent to and spaced from the adjacent end ofsaid fin and terminating in and communicating with a transverse passageformed in said hull and extending downwardly from the recess in the bowof said hull, a tube extending through said longitudinal and transversepassages and having one end extending out of and terminating at a pointspaced from the stern of said hull, the other end of said tubeterminating at a point adjacent to and spaced from the end of thetransverse passage adjacent to the recess in the deck of said hull, ahollow tubular fitting having one end embracing the other end of saidtube and seated upon the bounding wall of said transverse passage, theother end of said fitting being constricted, a second hollow tubularfitting circumposed about the constricted other end of said firstfitting and embracingly supported on the latter, and an inflatableballoon containing compressed air including a tubular neck arrangedabove said hull and having its tubular neck frictionally embracing saidsecond fitting, whereby the air passes from said balloon into theconstricted end of said first fitting and thence through and out of saidtube to thereby propel the boat forwardly.

2. A toy boat comprising a hull having a longitudinal recess extendinginwardly from its deck intermediate of and spaced from its stern andbow, a longitudinally extending fin positioned below and inwardly of thestern and spaced from the bow of said hull and dependingly secured tothe latter, said fin having its bottom edge sloping upwardly toward thestern of said hull, there being a longitudinal passage extendinginwardly from the stern of said hull adjacent to and spaced from theadjacent end of said fin and terminating in and communicating with thetransverse passage formed in said hull and extending downwardly from therecess in the bow of said hull, a tube extending through saidlongitudinal and transverse passages and having one end extending out ofand terminating at a point spaced from the stern of said hull, said oneend of said tube being bent downwardly, the other end of said tubeterminating at a point adjacent to and spaced from the end of thetransverse passage adjacent to the recess in the deck of said hull, ahollow tubular fitting having one end embracing the other end of saidtube and seated upon the bounding wall of said transverse passage, theother end of said fitting being constricted, a second hollow tubularfitting circumposed about the constricted other end of said firstfitting and embracingly supported on the latter, and an inflatable sailshaped balloon containing compressed air including a tubular neckarranged above said hull and having its tubular neck frictionallyembracing said second fitting, whereby the air passes from said ballooninto the constricted end of said first fitting and thence through andout of said tube to thereby propel the boat forwardly.

DONALD G. BELDING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,596,852 Foster Aug. 17, 19261,610,093 Hitt Dec. 7, 1926 1,611,613 Stevenson Dec. 21, 1926 2,484,468Schaad Oct. 11, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 417,31"!Great-Britain Oct. 2, 1934

